The Second Leiter Building, also known as the Leiter II Building, the Sears Building, One Congress Center, and Robert Morris Center, is located at the southeast corner of South

State Street State Street may refer to: Streets and locations *State Street (Chicago), Illinois * State Street (Portland, Maine) *State Street (Boston), Massachusetts *State Street (Ann Arbor), Michigan * State Street (Albany), New York *State Street (Manhatta ...

and East

Ida B. Wells Drive Ida B. Wells Drive (formerly Congress Parkway) is a major east–west street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It runs east from the Jane Byrne Interchange, where it meets Interstate 90 (I-90), I-94 and I-290. At Wel ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

. The building is not to be confused with the present

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...

, formerly the

Sears Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) ...

, constructed and owned by the famous nationwide mail-order firm

Sears, Roebuck & Company Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

. This landmark of the Chicago school of architecture gained fame for being one of the earliest commercial buildings constructed with a metal skeleton frame remaining in the United States. Built in 1891 by Levi Z. Leiter, (1834–1904), the Second Leiter Building was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

William Le Baron Jenney William Le Baron Jenney (September 25, 1832 – June 14, 1907) was an American architect and engineer who is known for building the first skyscraper in 1884. In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book ''1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ran ...

, who implemented the skeletal frame made of steel to make the design fireproof. The building was leased by Levi Leiter to the department store of

Siegel, Cooper and Company The Siegel-Cooper Company was a department store that opened in Chicago in 1887 and expanded into New York City in 1896. At the time of its opening, the New York store was the largest in the world. First store in Chicago Siegel-Cooper bega ...

who occupied it for approximately seven years. After Siegel Cooper closed, the building hosted various tenants until it became the downtown flagship store of

Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

in 1931. Sears occupied the space the until 1986 when it decided to close the store and the space was leased to other tenants. The structure is eight floors and occupies the entire block of State Street between Ida B. Wells Drive and Van Buren Street. The State Street facade consists of nine bays separated by wide pilasters. The pilasters are capped by simple capitals and an unadorned cornice crowns the entire structure. The Ida B. Wells and Van Buren facades are three bays wide with measurements of by . Within each bay are four windows on each floor aligned vertically. The building is faced with a pink granite. Each floor contains with ceilings and could be divided to house multiple tenants. Its predecessor, the

First Leiter Building The First Leiter building (or Leiter I) was a Chicago commercial structure built in 1879 by William Le Baron Jenney. It was renovated and extended in 1888, and demolished in 1972. Jenney designed this building, located at Washington and Wells St ...

, was designed by Jenney in 1879 and stood at Wells and Monroe until it was demolished in 1972. The Second Leiter Building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1976, and a Chicago Landmark on January 14, 1997. In 1998, the building became home to the Chicago campus of

Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 ...

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Miller, Donald L. ''City of the Century''. Simon & Schuster, 1996. .

External links

Leiter II Building

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

Leiter II Building
National Historic Landmark designation on January 7, 1976 {{Chicago Chicago school architecture in Illinois Commercial buildings completed in 1891 Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places National Historic Landmarks in Chicago Retail buildings in Illinois Sears Holdings buildings and structures 1889 establishments in Illinois Chicago Landmarks

See also

References

External links